This was published 8 years ago
Why Hawaii could the next long weekend destination for Aussies
By Jamie Freed
Would you consider a four-day jaunt to Hawaii - involving more than 20 hours of flying - to have a short break here?Credit: Shutterstock
Hawaiian Airlines wants Australians to consider the prospect of a four-day jaunt to Hawaii - involving more than 20 hours of flying - as it looks to fill its planes on the increasingly competitive Australia-Honolulu route.
All three airlines on the route - Hawaiian, Qantas and Jetstar - have raised capacity by more than 15 per cent over the last year at a time when the value of the Australian dollar has fallen, crimping spending power at the US destination.
Hawaiian, looking to stimulate more demand, has launched a new website, Short Breaks Hawaii with travel agency partners Helloworld, Hoot and Flight Centre's Infinity Holidays with six three-night itineraries on the islands to be sold as packages including flights, accommodation and airport transfers.
Australians on average spend nine nights in Hawaii, but enticing them to return more often would be in keeping with the trend for Australians to take more shorter trips per year - and it would benefit Hawaiian.
Gai Tyrell, Hawaiian's regional director for Australia and New Zealand, said she believed the prospect of flying to the islands from for just three nights was a realistic proposition, based on the itineraries and packages put together for the new initiative.
"Our Australian flight schedules also make a short break really workable," she said, referring to the night-time departures of the Sydney and Brisbane flights which allowed for a full workday beforehand.
Ms Tyrell said the proportion of Australians spending less than a week in Hawaii was "small, but definitely growing".
"Now because of change in the way and how often we holiday, plus air access to and throughout the Hawaiian Islands, we are seeing special occasion short trips, anniversaries, short honeymoons, special interest outdoor travel, even dedicated shopping trips to Honolulu," she said.
Ms Tyrell said there was a 6 per cent rise last year in Australians taking short break stopovers in Hawaii when travelling between Australia and the mainland US to destinations like Las Vegas and New York.
"We could be seeing a return to the heady days of the 80s and 90s when Hawaii was a massively popular short break destination for Australians as airlines flew to the US via Honolulu," she said of the new campaign. "Hawaii is now again extremely accessible and affordable for Australians."
Flight Centre Travel Group managing director Graham Turner on Tuesday said a "price war" was currently underway on the Australia-Honolulu route. However, a new Expedia and ARC air travel trends study forecasts a 7 per cent price rise on the Sydney-Honolulu route and a 5 per cent rise on the Melbourne-Honolulu route for the remainder of the year versus last year. In contrast, the cost of flights between Brisbane and Bali is forecast to fall by 27 per cent.
Ms Tyrell said there were price wars on many international destinations.
"When one destination surges steadily in popularity as is the case for Hawaii, airlines respond to the opportunity," she said. "More capacity means more competition, which in turn is good for the destination."
Over the last, Jetstar increased its capacity by 21 per cent, Qantas by 20 per cent and Hawaiian by 15 per cent as they put on larger planes and added more flights.
In the first quarter this year, Hawaii Tourism Oceania reported a 21.2 per cent rise in the number of Australians visiting the islands compared with the same period last year. But based on Flight Centre's comments and some of the good deals on offer in the market, it is likely they paid lower prices for their tickets.
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